The Neumann U87 vs. the TLM 103.
A little "inside baseball" for those contemplating a mic purchase.
A few times now I’ve read that “The TLM 103 is the little brother of the U87,” and, “the mics have a similar sound.” I disagree with both of those statements.
The U87 was designed under the constraints of German radio broadcasting in the 1960s. So it has a rolled-off high end and a conservative low end compared to newer mics. This attenuation at the extremes of the spectrum sounds like a lower-midrange bump that adds “fullness” to some voices.
The ‘87 has an output transformer. This yields a bit of low-end distortion that many people find “pleasing” or “larger than life.”
Some have recently said that the ‘87’s self-noise and headroom are problems in voiceover applications. They’re not. Unless your voice is louder than a jet engine, or softer than gnat flatulence, ignore these specs.
The TLM 103 is a more “modern”-sounding mic; that is, more open on the high and low frequencies. Compared to the ‘87, the ‘103 can sound like it has a “hole in the middle,” like an AKG 414 BLS. Some people may find it a bit “sterile” – the same people who would describe the ‘87 as “organic.” People who favor the ‘103 would call it “neutral” or “accurate,” and call the ’87 “boxy” or “colored” by comparison.
If price is not a factor and you want a beefy, midrange-forward, “classic”-sounding mic that will happily let you EQ it to be whatever you want, buy the U87. If you want a modern, “clean,” but perhaps less exciting mic out of the box, buy the ‘103 and a nice preamp that can add some fatness to it.
And now a little family history.
“The TLM 103 is the little brother of the U87.” Not.
The U87 is itself the not-quite identical twin of the U67. The ’67 used a tube for internal amplification; the ’87 is a solid state device.
The “little brother of the U87” is the U89, from the same era. Looks like the same mic, only smaller. To my ear it’s not quite as engaging as the ‘87.
When Neumann started its “transformerless” (TLM) line of mics, one of the first out of the chute was the TLM 170. This is pretty much a transformerless version of the U89. I’m not keen on this mic – to me it has kind of a metallic or artificial midrange.
Then Neumann came out with a single-pattern, transformerless version of the U87, dubbed the TLM 193. This is the mic used to record the voices for the TV show, “Family Guy,” if that gives you a reference.
The TLM 103 could be the least-U87-like large-diaphragm mic that Neumann makes. They share half of the same capsule, and the general shape of the grille. That’s it.
Accurate information on current and “historical” Neumann microphones can be found at www.neumann.com.
